Pita bread

My husband likes pita bread a lot. It is not so easily found unless we go to gourmet food stores in Bangalore. I always wanted to try making it at home. So I finally thought, this Friday evening I shall give it a try. Try was successful and hubby munched down on the whole lot :)

Pita bread with hummus



Knead into a smooth dough

 

After 2 hours, the dough has doubled it size



Divide dough into balls



Flatten out the dough



Roll out the dough to 5 mm thickness



Puffing in the oven



Puffed up pita bread



Pita bread



Enjoy pita bread with hummus

Ingredients:

Maida / Flour - 1.5 cups
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Warm water - 0.5 cups
Sugar - 1 tsp (Powdered) (Optional)
Olive oil - 1 tbsp (Optional)
Salt

Method:

Mix the active dry yeast in the water and let it proof for 5-10 mins.
Add 1 cup flour to it. Add salt, sugar and olive oil.
Mix well and knead.
Add the remaining flour while kneading to get a smooth dough.
Clean the vessel used to make the dough and grease it with olive oil.
Place the dough in the vessel and move around the dough so it is coated with olive oil.
Cover the vessel with a clean towel or a plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1-2 hours until the dough doubles in size.
Gently flatten the dough and move the dough to the working surface.
Divide the dough into balls. I made 4 for this quantity.
Preheat the oven to 240 degree Celsius. Keep the baking tray/ baking stone in the oven during preheat.
Using some more dry flour, gently roll out the dough ball to a thickness of about 5mm
Place the rolled out pita bread on the baking sheet and bake for 3 minutes.
It will puff up after 1-2 mins.
If it does not puff, it means the baking sheet is not hot enough. Whether it puffs or not does not matter if you are eating it with a dip.
This can be made using a tava/ griddle also, so instead of preheating the oven, heat the tava and place the pita bread on it when the tava is hot.
Remove from tava after it puffs or after 2 mins appx.
Enjoy it hot with hummus.